Music / Atomic Kitten

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Atomic Kitten, dubbed "The Kittens" by their fans, were an English Girl Group that formed towards the end of the 90s as an obvious attempt to cash in on the growing Girl Group craze. They had three members to start off with - Natasha Hamilton, Liz McClarnon and Kerry Katona. Initially Heidi Range was set to be in the band in Natasha's place but left due to artistic differences and later joined the Sugababes. Katona also left the group in 2000 to focus on raising her children. She was replaced by Jenny Frost, who stayed with the group until the split.

The Kittens were initially only mildly successful, their first album "Right Now" and their first four singles doing poorly. The label was considering dropping them but their manager convinced them to allow the girls to release one last song. This song was "Whole Again" and became their first number 1 single. They were much more successful in Europe, Asia and Australia but didn't quite make it in America. They stayed together until 2004 when they had a mutual split but they have reformed several times for one-off appearances. Kerry Katona reunited with the group in 2012 for The Big Reunion - ironically replacing Jenny due to her own pregnancy this time. Michelle Heaton of Liberty X filled in for Liz during a 2016 tour.

This girl group provides examples of:

Action Mom: Natasha filmed the video for "The Tide Is High" and performed several concerts while she was eight months pregnant.

All There in the Manual: Apparently the back-story behind the video for "It's OK" was that the girls all split up with their boyfriends and decided to take an impromptu holiday.

Amazon Brigade: They took up kick-boxing as a way of keeping fit for their Greatest Hits Tour.

Bare Your Midriff: They actually only do this twice in the videos for "Eternal Flame" and "You Are".

Beach Episode: The video for "It's OK", which was filmed in South Africa.

Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The initial lineup with blonde Kerry, brunette Liz and redhead Natasha. Natasha herself has gone through all three colours.

Break-Up Song: Implied with "The Last Goodbye". More explicit with "See Ya."

Break the Cutie: Poor Liz suffered from depression during her time in the group.

The Cameo: Liz and Jenny appeared as themselves in the mockumentary Mike Bassett: England Manager singing the theme song for the World Cup.

Clip Show: The video for "Right Now 2004" is one, though unusually for this kind of music video it doesn't feature past music videos but rather concerts, personal footage and public appearances. "Cradle 2005" is also made up of clips from the original "Cradle" and American "Whole Again" videos, shots from a concert in Belfast and clips from Jenny and Liz's trip to Africa.

Early Installment Weirdness: Their first three singles are very at odds with their later image. Sexually suggestive lyrics, aggressively upbeat songs and an overall sound that was very 90s and bubblegum. With the success of "Whole Again" they tweaked their image to become less Spice Girls and more mellow overall.

Fanservice: The video for "It's OK" opens with all three Kittens walking out of the ocean in bikinis. Then there's "If You Come To Me" where they're completely nude with animations of clouds and butterflies on their skin.

Freeze-Frame Bonus: In the video for "Love Doesn't Have To Hurt" there is a very quick shot of one of the Kittens watching a TV where another (Liz probably) can be seen climbing out of a pool.

Girl Next Door: Liz, the shortest of the girls was always the most innocently portrayed with this image in mind.

Hufflepuff House: Ironically, although Natasha was pushed as the lead singer early on, she was the one most likely to miss public events or gigs. Jenny and Liz were usually always there, whereas they have said that Natasha's commitments slipped when she became a mother for the first time.

Important Haircut: Natasha dyed her hair black after she gave birth to her first son. Jenny cutting her hair into a bob was also to distinguish her from the other two as she feared they all looked too similar. Putting extensions in before their Greatest Hits Tour was also a last minute one.

Ms. Fanservice: Jenny seemed to take on this role more than the other two. Notably on their Greatest Hits Tour, the baby doll dresses the girls wore. Liz and Natasha's had lots of layers while Jenny's was almost completely see-through.

Oop North: All four Kittens were from Liverpool, and the video for "The Last Goodbye" was filmed there.

Plenty of Blondes: All three girls were blonde as of the "Eternal Flame" cover until "Be With You".

Progressively Prettier: Right Now had the girls as very casual and a little tomboyish. Feels So Good added a little more Fanservice. By Ladies' Night there was a lot more sex appeal.

Re Tool: "Whole Again" gave the girls more success than their previous singles so they gave themselves a Girliness Upgrade and shifted away from power ballads and disco dance music towards softer Sweet Dreams Fuel style songs.

Scenery Porn: The videos for "It's OK" and "The Last Goodbye" are notable examples, being filmed in South Africa and Liverpool respectively.

The Three Faces of Eve: The image presented the second line-up as this. Liz was the Child - as the youngest and cutest member. Natasha the lead singer was the Wife. Jenny as the tall Ms. Fanservice was the Seductress.

Token Wholesome: In comparison to their fellow girl groups at the time, they were the least Stripperiffic. The girls were always dressed modestly enough and even when they wore revealing outfits in their videos, they weren't that exposed. Though they certainly blurred the line with the video for "If You Come To Me".

Title Track: All their albums. Right Now, Feels So Good and Ladies Night were all album tracks. Feels So Good was the only one not released as a single.

Jenny: "How many 5-month pregnant women do you know who can get into them?"

Woman in White: In the video for "Eternal Flame" and again for "Someone Like Me".

Word Salad Lyrics: "See Ya" has some pretty weird lyrics - "Well there's a great big ocean out there boy and you're not my favourite dish/Because you can see me sinking like I told you so/I need a new direction/But you won't let me go"

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